Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

Effect on Earth from Factory Farming

November 3, 2014
Parker Hague
Mrs. Disher

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

Abstract
This paper is about the many ways we can start preventing a particular kind of pollution
on earth.
This pollution is the waste from the factory farms. The waste comes from the large
amounts of animals held at these farms. The waste is not stored in a safe way and has
become a threat to the human society and planet earth. Factory farming can endanger us
and other species by polluting fresh water. The paper explains several ways we can
prevent this large amount of pollution in small places.
Introduction
Pollution on earth can be very harmful to the people living on earth and other organisms
around. There are hundreds of different types of pollution all of them which contribute to
harm the earth in their own ways but factory farming has its own specific way of harming
an area very badly. Unlike the exhaust from cars factory farms harm the earth directly
into the ground.
Pollution
Look at any ecosystem and there could be multiple forms of contaminationstreams full
of toxic chemicals from industrial processes, rivers overloaded with nutrients from farms,
trash blowing away from landfills, city skies covered in smog. Even landscapes that
appear pristine can experience the effects of pollution sources located hundreds or
thousands of miles away.
Pollution may muddy landscapes, poison soils and waterways, or kill plants and animals.
Humans are also regularly harmed by pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution, for

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

example, can lead to chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer and other diseases. Toxic
chemicals that accumulate in top predators can make some species unsafe to eat. More
than one billion people lack access to clean water and 2.4 billion dont have adequate
sanitation, putting them at risk of contracting deadly diseases.
Factory Farming
Giant livestock farms that are known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations house
thousands of cows, chickens or pigs and produce staggering amounts of animal waste.
The way these wastes are stored and used has profound effects on human health and the
environment. On most factory farms, animals are crowded into small areas; their manure
is funneled into massive waste lagoons. These cesspools often break, leak or overflow,
sending dangerous microbes, nitrate pollution and drug-resistant bacteria into water
supplies. Factory-farm lagoons also emit toxic gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide
and methane. What's more, the farms often spray the manure onto land, ostensibly as
fertilizer -- these "sprayfields" bring still more of these harmful substances into our air
and water. Yet in spite of the huge amounts of animal wastes that factory farms produce,
they have largely escaped pollution regulations; loopholes in the law and weak
enforcement share the blame. NRDC has fought, and won, a number of courtroom battles
over the years to force the federal government to deal with the problem of factory farms,
but more protections are needed to adequately protect public health and the environment
from CAFO pollution.
People who live near or work at factory farms breathe in hundreds of gases, which are
formed as manure decomposes. The stench can be unbearable, but worse still, the gases
contain many harmful chemicals. For instance, one gas released by the lagoons, hydrogen

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

sulfide, is dangerous even at low levels. Its effects -- which are irreversible -- range from
sore throat to seizures, comas and even death. Other health effects associated with the
gases from factory farms include headaches, shortness of breath, wheezing, excessive
coughing and diarrhea.
Animal waste also contaminates drinking water supplies. For example, nitrates often seep
from lagoons and sprayfields into groundwater. Drinking water contaminated with
nitrates can increase the risk of blue baby syndrome, which can cause deaths in infants.
High levels of nitrates in drinking water near hog factories have also been linked to
spontaneous abortions. Several disease outbreaks related to drinking water have been
traced to bacteria and viruses from waste.
On top of this, the widespread use of antibiotics also poses dangers. Large-scale animal
factories often give animals antibiotics to promote growth, or to compensate for illness
resulting from crowded conditions. These antibiotics are entering the environment and
the food chain, contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and making it
harder to treat human diseases.
The natural environment also suffers in many ways from factory-farming practices.
Sometimes the damage is sudden and catastrophic, as when a ruptured lagoon causes a
massive fish kill. At other times, it is cumulative -- for example, when manure is
repeatedly overapplied, it runs off the land and accumulates as nutrient pollution in
waterways.
Either way, the effects are severe. For instance, water quality across the country is
threatened by phosphorus and nitrogen, two nutrients present in animal wastes. In

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

excessive amounts, nutrients often cause an explosion of algae that robs water of oxygen,
killing aquatic life. One toxic microorganism, Pfiesteria piscicida, has been implicated in
the death of more than one billion fish in coastal waters in North Carolina.
Manure can also contain traces of salt and heavy metals, which can end up in bodies of
water and accumulate in the sediment, concentrating as they move up the food chain. And
lagoons not only pollute groundwater; they also deplete it. Many factory farms use
groundwater for cleaning, cooling and providing drinking water.

Solution 1
Factory farms are industrial facilities and should be regulated accordingly. They must
obtain permits, monitor water quality and pay for cleaning up and disposing their wastes.
Solution 2
The public should know where CAFO are located, how CAFOs in their neighborhoods
get rid of their waste, and what drinking water may be at risk. There is not currently a
comprehensive database of this critical information, which should be collected and
made publicly available.
Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health. (13, February 21).
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/nspills.asp
Solution 3
Public awareness and participation. Local governments and residents must have a say in
whether to allow factory farms in their communities. The public is also entitled to review

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

and comment on the contents of pollution reduction plans and to enforce the terms, where
a factory farm is in violation.
Pollution overview. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from
http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution

Solution 4
Factory-farm technology standards must be strengthened. The EPA shouldconsider recent
technology advances that reduce pathogens.
Solution 5
States and the government should promote methods of raising livestock that reduce the
concentration of animals and use manure safely. Many methods exist; they rely on
keeping animal waste drier, which limits problems with spills, runoff and air pollution.
Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health. (13, February 21).
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/nspills.asp
Solution 6
Individuals can help stop factory farm pollution by supporting livestock farms that use
sustainable practices. In the grocery store, this means checking meat labels for "organic,"
"free range," "antibiotic-free," or similar wording, which indicates meat raised in a more
sustainable manner. Many sustainable livestock farms also sell directly to consumers or
through local farmers' markets
Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health. (13, February 21).
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/nspills.asp

Effects on Earth from Factory Farming

Conclusion
There are many different kinds of pollution but factory farming is one of the forms that
can easily be reduced or made less harmful to planet earth and the people living on it.
These solutions are the answers to this problem and need to be taken into action.